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8:40pm July 27, 2014
Anonymous asked: Just a heads up about gum: Most sugarless gum that isn't Trident is flavored with sorbitol, which is a laxative. Seriously, it's even sold as one. Just a little bit sets me right off and arrrg it really limits the amount of gum available to me, but maybe you're more resilient than I am.

That might explain the diarrhea, and the gas… but I tend towards constipation anyway, the only reason I’m not on a heavy-duty laxative anymore is because the tube feeding seems to not form blockages as easily as actual food does.  

But Trident is the main gum I chew, so maybe that helps as well.  I tend to use many, many sticks of Trident (they’re so tiny!) and then a little bit of Five if I have some (to make it slightly less soft), and sometimes Dentyne (because their cinnamon is stronger than Trident cinnamon).  But yes, Five and Dentyne both seem to have sorbitol in them.  I’ll have to be careful of that whenever I get the runs.  (Which, actually, happens more often now that I chew gum.)

My doctor actually told me chewing gum might help my stomach move better, so maybe he meant that?  Or maybe he meant because the act of chewing stimulates digestion.  I know it helps me to chew it while I’m burping the g-tube.  IDK. 

But thanks for the warning, I’ll be careful now.

Notes:
  1. karalianne said: Yeah, my mom is diabetic and has to be careful about what artificial sweeteners are in the stuff she eats because sorbitol really affects her digestive tract. It doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it bothers her.
  2. withasmoothroundstone posted this